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The V.M.L Cadet
One of Americans Last Independent College Newspapers
VOLUME LXXV
Private
Scholarships
Deadlines are quickly ap-proaching
for summer and fall
financial aid, according to The
Scholarship Bank.
Students with financial needs
should begin now to investigate
some of the more than 25,000
private aid sources, according
to Steve Danz, Director. These
funds are available to students
with interests in a number of
fields, and many do not depend
on demonstrated financial
need, as do state and federal
funds. For example, students
with an interest in business,
law, and accounting can receive
a stipend from the Exceptional
Student Fellowship Fund, and
apply to the parent corporation
for full time work following
graduation.
The Scholarship Bank is the
largest private scholarship
bank in the country for
undergraduate and for
graduate grants and loans. The
computer can help you find
sources designed just for you,
based on your major, occupa-tional
goal, geographic desires,
type of aid requested (scholar-ships,
loans, summer work),
and special skills and hobbies.
According to the director, the
computer guarantees each stu-dent
at least fifty sources of aid.
It has been estimated that each
package of aid represents ap-proximately
$20,000 in potential
money for college. Private aid
comes from America's largest
foundations, corporations,
unions, and private donors and
totals approximately 500
million dollars, or one fourth of
all available aid. Thus, it is an
extremely valuable addition to
the private and state moneys
available. As an example of the
depth of the search, the bank
reports one student found
thirty-six sources for the most
(continued on page 4)
Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, March 1,1985 NUMBER 19
"Elmore scores from charity stripe." (See Page 4)
Commandant
To Take Command
by: Tim Perez
The Commandant of the
Corps of Cadets, Colonel John
W. Cummings, has been
selected by a Combat Arms
selection b ^ r d to command an
infantry brigade beginning
fiscal year 1986. Cummings will
leave the Institute at the end of
the academic year 1986, having
spent two years as Comman-dant.
Cummings is looking forward
to his future assignment stating
"if you are in the Army, you
want to command." And
although his VMI assignment
was set for three years, Cumm-ings
will "continue on the same
plan" he has been working on,
and not try to fit in as many
policies or changes in the
shortened amount of time. "I do
not want to go into overdrive. I
don't want any crescendos. I
want to continue to do quality
work." He humorously pointed
out that two hours before
graduation of the Class of 1986,
the last class with him as the
Commandant, he will be out
walking along the stoops in bar-racks,
still enforcing the regula-tions.
"I think the best compli-ment
of command is when a
unit doesn't really notice when
its commander is gone and
functions at the high standards
the commander has left. That is
the best show of command."
Although Cummings is aware
of the brigade assignment, he
has not found out which unit he
will command.
The selection boards meet
every year to discuss
assignments and choose the
commanders that qualify for
unit commands. Listed in year
groups, the entire histories of
candidates are scrutinized.
Cummings, in the 1962 year
group (the year he was commis-sion^
after graduation from
VMI), was in a very select
group. Only 6.8 percent of those
who were reviewed by the Com-bat
Arms selection t)oard were
selected for the position of com-manding
a brigade.
Cummings is anxious to
return to the Regular Army en-vironmenf'One
always looks
forward to it, that's your life."
Yet at the same time, Cumm-ings
says "I never wish my life
away." His experiences at VMI,
"influencing day-b>-day ac-
(continuedonpaf(e7)
Rock Kiln
Theater
stonewall Jackson's home
and final resting place is in Lex-ington,
Virginia. And so, it is on-ly
logical that a play based on
his life have its world premiere
here.
This summer will see just
that at Festival Theater at Rock
Kiln Ruin, the new, outdoor
summer theater just outside the
city limits.
Don Baker, the theater's pro-ducing
director, has spent the
fall and winter researching
Civil War material for
STONEWALL COUNTRY. The
musical drama will be one of
three performed on a rotating
basis at the theater. The other
two are ROCK KILN RUIN'S
TALE OF CYMBELINE
(formerly a play by William
Shakespeare), which had its
premiere last year; and RED
FOX/SECOND HANGIN',
Baker's nationally acclaimed
historical drama.
Music and lyrics for
STONEWALL COUNTRY are
being written by Robin and Lin-da
Williams, Virginia musi-cians
who appear regularly on
National Public Radio's
"Prairie Home Companion".
"In American history,"
Baker said, "war is the thing
that Americans most need to
understand, and the Civil War
most of all. The issues we may
have argued among ourselves,
but the war we fought against
ourselves. More Americans
died in that war than in any
other we have fought. Since the
close of the war and the triumph
of a just issue and cause,
Americans have tried to put all
the other unanswered questions
into some perspective. One hun-dred
and twenty years later we,
as a nation, still labor under the
legacy (rf those questions."
Baker said his intention is for
the musical drama, "to address
and clearly define some ques-tions
that we as a country have
never answered."
The questions are most ap-parent
in the contradictions in
the South, he said. "There's the
embarrassment of knowing we
fought this bloodiest of
American Wars in defense of
slavery—a morally reprehensi-ble
position. Yet, most of us
wish we'd won the war.
"Logically, if the South had
won. the nation would have
been split into four or five na-tions.
It is better off as one, yet,
I still wish we'd won the war!"
Baker said that the lives of
Jackson and his generals point
to many of the contradictions
left by the war.
The musical will be perform-ed
in Baker's southern moun-tain,
story-telling style. But, it
will also have more than its
share of spectacle. The plans
tentatively call for the use of
horses, cannons, and battle
scenes to show the horrors of
the war.
But, it is the half-forgotten
stories of the war and Jackson
that are holding Baker's
fascination.
One of his favorites goes
something like this: "Jackson
worried about his eyes a lot."
As a cure, he would get a bucket
of the coldest water he could
find every day, and immerse
his head in it for as long as he
could hold his breath and keep
his eyes open. "So, you know
that half the time people woukl
walk into his tent and find
Jackson with his head in a
bucket of water.
"So, it is no wonder," Baker
said "that people found Jackson
eccentric, and brilliant."
Several well-known scholars
have agreed to assist on the
development oi the musical
drama. They include historians
Royster and Katie Lyle,
Jackson House Director
Michael Lynn, Fight Master
Joseph Martinez, Katherine
Brown, Director of the
(continued on page 7)

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The V.M.L Cadet
One of Americans Last Independent College Newspapers
VOLUME LXXV
Private
Scholarships
Deadlines are quickly ap-proaching
for summer and fall
financial aid, according to The
Scholarship Bank.
Students with financial needs
should begin now to investigate
some of the more than 25,000
private aid sources, according
to Steve Danz, Director. These
funds are available to students
with interests in a number of
fields, and many do not depend
on demonstrated financial
need, as do state and federal
funds. For example, students
with an interest in business,
law, and accounting can receive
a stipend from the Exceptional
Student Fellowship Fund, and
apply to the parent corporation
for full time work following
graduation.
The Scholarship Bank is the
largest private scholarship
bank in the country for
undergraduate and for
graduate grants and loans. The
computer can help you find
sources designed just for you,
based on your major, occupa-tional
goal, geographic desires,
type of aid requested (scholar-ships,
loans, summer work),
and special skills and hobbies.
According to the director, the
computer guarantees each stu-dent
at least fifty sources of aid.
It has been estimated that each
package of aid represents ap-proximately
$20,000 in potential
money for college. Private aid
comes from America's largest
foundations, corporations,
unions, and private donors and
totals approximately 500
million dollars, or one fourth of
all available aid. Thus, it is an
extremely valuable addition to
the private and state moneys
available. As an example of the
depth of the search, the bank
reports one student found
thirty-six sources for the most
(continued on page 4)
Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, March 1,1985 NUMBER 19
"Elmore scores from charity stripe." (See Page 4)
Commandant
To Take Command
by: Tim Perez
The Commandant of the
Corps of Cadets, Colonel John
W. Cummings, has been
selected by a Combat Arms
selection b ^ r d to command an
infantry brigade beginning
fiscal year 1986. Cummings will
leave the Institute at the end of
the academic year 1986, having
spent two years as Comman-dant.
Cummings is looking forward
to his future assignment stating
"if you are in the Army, you
want to command." And
although his VMI assignment
was set for three years, Cumm-ings
will "continue on the same
plan" he has been working on,
and not try to fit in as many
policies or changes in the
shortened amount of time. "I do
not want to go into overdrive. I
don't want any crescendos. I
want to continue to do quality
work." He humorously pointed
out that two hours before
graduation of the Class of 1986,
the last class with him as the
Commandant, he will be out
walking along the stoops in bar-racks,
still enforcing the regula-tions.
"I think the best compli-ment
of command is when a
unit doesn't really notice when
its commander is gone and
functions at the high standards
the commander has left. That is
the best show of command."
Although Cummings is aware
of the brigade assignment, he
has not found out which unit he
will command.
The selection boards meet
every year to discuss
assignments and choose the
commanders that qualify for
unit commands. Listed in year
groups, the entire histories of
candidates are scrutinized.
Cummings, in the 1962 year
group (the year he was commis-sion^
after graduation from
VMI), was in a very select
group. Only 6.8 percent of those
who were reviewed by the Com-bat
Arms selection t)oard were
selected for the position of com-manding
a brigade.
Cummings is anxious to
return to the Regular Army en-vironmenf'One
always looks
forward to it, that's your life."
Yet at the same time, Cumm-ings
says "I never wish my life
away." His experiences at VMI,
"influencing day-b>-day ac-
(continuedonpaf(e7)
Rock Kiln
Theater
stonewall Jackson's home
and final resting place is in Lex-ington,
Virginia. And so, it is on-ly
logical that a play based on
his life have its world premiere
here.
This summer will see just
that at Festival Theater at Rock
Kiln Ruin, the new, outdoor
summer theater just outside the
city limits.
Don Baker, the theater's pro-ducing
director, has spent the
fall and winter researching
Civil War material for
STONEWALL COUNTRY. The
musical drama will be one of
three performed on a rotating
basis at the theater. The other
two are ROCK KILN RUIN'S
TALE OF CYMBELINE
(formerly a play by William
Shakespeare), which had its
premiere last year; and RED
FOX/SECOND HANGIN',
Baker's nationally acclaimed
historical drama.
Music and lyrics for
STONEWALL COUNTRY are
being written by Robin and Lin-da
Williams, Virginia musi-cians
who appear regularly on
National Public Radio's
"Prairie Home Companion".
"In American history,"
Baker said, "war is the thing
that Americans most need to
understand, and the Civil War
most of all. The issues we may
have argued among ourselves,
but the war we fought against
ourselves. More Americans
died in that war than in any
other we have fought. Since the
close of the war and the triumph
of a just issue and cause,
Americans have tried to put all
the other unanswered questions
into some perspective. One hun-dred
and twenty years later we,
as a nation, still labor under the
legacy (rf those questions."
Baker said his intention is for
the musical drama, "to address
and clearly define some ques-tions
that we as a country have
never answered."
The questions are most ap-parent
in the contradictions in
the South, he said. "There's the
embarrassment of knowing we
fought this bloodiest of
American Wars in defense of
slavery—a morally reprehensi-ble
position. Yet, most of us
wish we'd won the war.
"Logically, if the South had
won. the nation would have
been split into four or five na-tions.
It is better off as one, yet,
I still wish we'd won the war!"
Baker said that the lives of
Jackson and his generals point
to many of the contradictions
left by the war.
The musical will be perform-ed
in Baker's southern moun-tain,
story-telling style. But, it
will also have more than its
share of spectacle. The plans
tentatively call for the use of
horses, cannons, and battle
scenes to show the horrors of
the war.
But, it is the half-forgotten
stories of the war and Jackson
that are holding Baker's
fascination.
One of his favorites goes
something like this: "Jackson
worried about his eyes a lot."
As a cure, he would get a bucket
of the coldest water he could
find every day, and immerse
his head in it for as long as he
could hold his breath and keep
his eyes open. "So, you know
that half the time people woukl
walk into his tent and find
Jackson with his head in a
bucket of water.
"So, it is no wonder," Baker
said "that people found Jackson
eccentric, and brilliant."
Several well-known scholars
have agreed to assist on the
development oi the musical
drama. They include historians
Royster and Katie Lyle,
Jackson House Director
Michael Lynn, Fight Master
Joseph Martinez, Katherine
Brown, Director of the
(continued on page 7)